'Coming to Save Us' conveys empathy about the everyday

Book review

"No One is Coming to Save Us" opens in the small, despondent community of Pinewood, N.C., a town deep in poverty. JJ Ferguson, former poor boy, returns to Pinewood a wealthy man who "goes by Jay now." He's building a mansion on a hill that overlooks the town. The location is not an accident.

Standing on the deck, Jay can see the roof of the house of Ava, his high school sweetheart. Everyone knows he's come to win her back, but his plan will face complications; Ava isn't who she was anymore, weighed down by a declining mother-daughter relationship, multiple miscarriages and an unfaithful husband.

Much of the story is told through the eyes of Silvia, Ava's mother. She's still married to a philandering husband, and has accepted that life won't get better for her. Her only good moments are when she speaks to Marcus, a prison inmate serving time for drug dealing.

This book has been promoted as the African-American version of "The Great Gatsby," but whether or not that's true is a mystery to me. Sadly, I have not yet read "The Great Gatsby." However, I do know that Jay Ferguson is the parallel to Jay Gatsby, Ava is a stand-in for Daisy and they're both on similar missions.

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There are numerous subplots. Every character has a different story and they're all intertwined.

What I love most is that there is no heroic protagonist, no thrilling plot or happy, riding-off-into-the-sunset ending. These characters are ordinary people living ordinary lives, yet the intricacy with which their stories are told is extraordinary. Vivid descriptions of memories allow the reader to feel what each character feels, to really see into their minds. I could easily sympathize with Ava's grief, with Silvia's acquiescence.

Now, I'm going to be brutally honest. This book bored me at times. Brief dialogue, followed by endless paragraphs of analysis and explanation, is the book's greatest strength and weakness.

The ending leaves it to the readers to make of it what they will. There is no epilogue, no ending after the ending. Although there isn't a clear resolution, there is a weird feeling of contentment, and, even in the face of adversity, hope.